Aroma is smokey, but it's not strong. Almost like liquid smoke. Hints of dark fruit and bread

Not sure how I feel about this one. Definitely not a go-to smoke beer. It's not bad, just a bit thin. The smoke seems fake, if there is such a thing, in that it's fairly light. The breadiness is also thin. Seems rather malty; the sweetness is an afterthought, though. Fairly dry given the malt forward.

Not a bad brew, but for the money, go with a German smoked beer or Alaskan

I don't believe I got the Bruichladdich edition, but I wouldn't really know anyway... Regardless, this stuff pours a deep, dark sienna topped by a finger of relatively short-lived glowing off-white foam. The nose comprises bacon-y smoke, light Band-Aid, light roasted malts in the background, and a vague sense of molasses The taste really ups the Band-Aid ante with its smoke component, with the dry biscuit ad very light roasted malts unable to do much to assuage my tastebuds. The body is a light-leaning medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fluid (verging on almost-watery) feel. Overall, this beer just didn't work for me. I believe the peated malt just did too much and didn't quite gel with either the beech-smoked malts or the regular malts surrounding it. One thing's for sure: it didn't gel with my sensibilities much...

Pours a deep maple with a shade of grey beneath a slightly off white creamy head. The most prominent aroma of course is the leathery-smoke quality which overwhelms your senses in the best way possible. Notes of creamy milk chocolate & caramel along with some oak as well. Although the smoke is the main player in flavor as well, the darker malt flavors are initially much more pronounced; not quite rich, but it does add some depth to this ale. Hints of apple and grape, precede a slightly dry finish with more leather in the aftertaste. Full bodied The texture certainly distinguishes this one from a lagered Rauchbier; much fuller and rounded. A really nice smoked ale that I would recommend, especially on tap on account of its added smoothness.

Poured from a bottle that includes a note it will last 5 years. Wow! Bottling date is 6/7/2011.

A - clear brown/dark amber with a VERY fluffy tan head that leaves streaky lacing down the glass. Lots of carbonation in the glass. Takes a while to settle.

S - huge, sweet smoke and honey on the nose. Exceptionally powerful.

T - this one is all smoke, start to finish. Underneath is fairly strong grassy hops finishing with dark fruit. Very earthy/leather undertones throughout. Smoke still dominates, but there are some other interesting tastes there.

M - mouthfeel is a bit harsh on initial taste. After a few minutes it settles significantly. Body is light to medium, and even after losing a bit of carbonation is a touch harsh.

Overall - this is a crazy beer. I've had Rauchbiers and lots of smoked porters, and plenty of Islay Scotch, and this is probably the most intense smoky beverage experience I've had. Impressively there are still some nice flavors under the smoke, but it's still super-intensely smokey.

Poured from a 330ml bottle. This bottle produced a ridiculous amount of thick beige head no matter how carefully it was poured. That said, it really provided quite a whiff of the smokey goodness. There's lots of sweet bacon & leather on the nose. It's oddly enticing. The taste, however, is unbelievable. Doesn't seem like it would work, but the dark fruits, chocolate and smoke flavours are balanced and integrated with a lovely bit of sweetness that is gently knocked on the head by the bitter finish. So complex and interesting, even if you're not a fan of smoked beers.

Look: Very dark brown with a HUGE tan head that almost spills over the top of my Duvel tulip, almost but not quite. It did stick out over the top though. Aside from the explosion at first, it's a really nice head that sticks at close to half an inch and leaves plenty of lacing around the glass.

Smell: An intense smell of smoked bacon fills the nose with complimentary malts, chocolate and some grassy hops and dark fruits. The bacon is definitely the star though.

Taste: Smokey and charred malts, chocolate, dark fruits and the bacon is still in there as well though nowhere near as prominent as in the smell. There are some mild spices and medicinal notes in the flavour as well which really add to the meal in a cup taste.

The mouthfeel is surprisingly light given the taste, foamy and an almost smoke like feel with a dry finish that leaves an aftertaste like you've just inhaled some smoke from the barbeque, but in a nice way.

Overall this is a surprisingly easily drinkable meal in a cup. The only real downside is the rather explosive head that makes pouring this beer in one go a real challenge, even with a large tulip.

This beer pours, it um, pours, well, it pours with only a slight initial bottle tilt into a tumultuous, disturbingly fast-rising tight foamy ecru head, which comes perilously close to beer shame overflow, and eventually gives way to a fuzzy painted wall of lace around the glass as it lazily settles.

It smells of smoky caramel malt, salted meat, some surprisingly inoffensive medicinal notes, dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate, and herbal, grassy hops. The taste quite a drop-off of the Islay by way of Bamberg nature - more of a big caramel chocolate malt, mild iodine and sour fruit edgy offsets, and a nice prodding grassy hoppiness.

The bubbles are still a bit prickly, the body a sturdy medium weight, airily creamy, and tacitly smooth. It finishes well off-dry, the relatively new-found chocolate malt still in its heyday, the bitter, smoky, phenolic components mostly laying by the wayside.

Given the awkward first impressions, I'm glad I powered through it all, to get to the real goods - a pungent chocolate malt offering, with more subtle smoked beer leanings - making it a much more drinkable affair than initially imagined.

A dark brown with some ruby highlights when held to the light, I can't quite decide if the 4/5 of a glass of tan foam is a good or bad thing, took several pours to get the beer in the glass but the foam did hang on ending up with a steep peak that resembles a swirled ice cream, strange to say the least. Lace is random and scattered

S campfire and band-aids but it somehow works, a little booze and herbal hops, well I'm not sure if its hops but its herbal

T chocolate malt and smokey earthy wood, no band-aid and what I thought was herbal hops I don't find here, better then the nose however and quite enjoyable

M medium bodied with a long smokey aftertaste but way to carbonated and quite foamy

O over carbonation is my only major complaint, decent stuff but nothing to put it in the "World Class'

I like the smokey chocolate notes but it lacks the intensity and complexity of some of my favorite smoked malt ales

Appearance: Another one of De Molen’s hugely over filled bottles - thankfully it did not gush; though judging by the size of the head (1 inch of beer and a glass full of head) it is well overcarbonated. The head is tan in colour and displays annoyingly good retention (I want to be able to smell the beer sometime today!) and leaves good lace. The body is a very dark mahogany brown with deep red highlights and orange edges when backlit.

Smell: It looks like the thickness of the head was not the only thing stopping me from appreciating much on the nose. Bloed, Zweet en Tranen is quite underpowered for a smoked beer. Peat smoke, charred wood, a touch of saltiness and underlying dark fruits are noted. Very little of the Bamberg Rauch-malt is present.

Taste: The flavour is an improvement on the nose, but still not quite there. The peated malt is again at the fore with the smoked meat character of the German malt only just noted in the finish. The finish is reasonably bitter with a touch of herbal hops. No alcohol is noted.

Mouthfeel: As expected the beer is well overcarbonated and feels quite harsh. Some vigorous swirling is required to settle things down. That said the body is pretty good at a medium-full level.

Overall: A pleasant beer, but not really what I expected from a smoked beer. I would say that the Bamberg malt should be doubled!